What do Geoff Tate, Tim “Ripper” Owens, and Blaze Bayley have in common? For one, they are former vocalists of three of the most recognized Heavy Metal bands ever, Tate formerly of Queensrÿche, Owens formerly of Judas Priest, and Bayley formerly of Iron Maiden. Second, they are three massively powerful vocalists. Lastly, they would make one hell of a touring bill together. A dream or reality? Well, it just so happens when Tate called in his Heavy Metal friends to lay down vocals for new Operation: Mindcrime track, “Taking On The World,” the idea was actually part of the conversation. The obstacle, all three are extremely busy, but where there is a will there is a way, and the dream became a reality when they announced the Trinity Tour. A limited edition run, taking place over a 10-day period, on Saturday, November 19th it arrived out in Wantagh, New York at Mulcahy’s Pub and Concert Hall. An exciting night, the venue filled up quickly as die-hard fans of all ages gathered for the special, fun night of Metal.

The night kicked off heavy with the hard-rocking Metal sounds of Long Island’s Black Dawn. Forming in 1992, the four original members, Tom Kelly (vocals/guitar), Matt Kotten (guitars), Shawn Cox (bass), and Enzo DiPaolo (drums) have been recording and touring since 1996. While on tour, they have opened for such acts as Kings X and LA Guns. They have recorded five albums over the years and have had their music played worldwide on internet radio and podcasts.

With the stage lights really dim, the band members were mostly seen as silhouettes, a spotlight shown on Kelly while he sang their style of Metal with a smooth melodic tone to his voice. They performed all of their original music including tracks off of their 2004 Age Of Reason, including the title track, “Reflect,” and “Dangerous.” They also played a couple of tracks off of their latest release, 2014’s Until We Meet, “Upon Your Lips” and “I Wanna Fly.” With such energy and rich talent, this is a band well-worth checking out.

Keeping the night moving along, there was a brief intermission and then Magus Beast blasted the audience with their brand of Power Metal. Based in Queens, NY, this band has been on the scene since the mid 1980’s and was formerly known as Agressor. With several lineup changes over the years, and also a name change, leading the band is Ron Scauri (vocals) with members John Rup (guitar), Andy Zuppardi (guitar), Andy Prezioso (bass), and Tony Passimenti (drums).

Loud and in your face, they played several tracks off of their 1996 release, Say Your Prayers, including “Magus Beast,” “Legion,” and “Death Before Dishonor.” The band played fast and furious as Scauri entertained the crowd with his powerful vocals. They closed their performance with an ‘80s favorite, Accept’s “Fast As A Shark.” With its long history and talented musicians, this band cannot be ignored. Be sure to check them out.

Following with a longer intermission, the anticipation was rising as many drew closer to the stage. In that time, curiosity ran wild among the audience, wondering exactly how the three vocalists would split their sets. The answers soon came when the black curtain obscuring the stage was drawn to reveal former Queensrÿche Guitarist Kelly Gray, Guitarist Scott Moughton, Tate’s Son-in-Law, Bassist Tim Fernley, and former Candlebox Drummer Scott Mercado. A solid lineup, directly following Tate, Bayley and Owens appeared, taking command starting off their performance with the aforementioned Operation: Mindcrime collaboration, “Taking On The World.” Moments later, Bayley and Owens left the stage and Tate took over, mesmerizing the fans with Queensrÿche favorites including “Empire” and ”I Don’t Believe In Love,” from their epic 1988 Operation: Mindcrime album.

A grand start, thanking the audience for their enthusiastic applause, Tate soon after introduced Bayley. Bayley, being his career in the band Wolfsbane, in 1994 Bayley was anointed the new voice of Iron Maiden in Bruce Dickinson’s departure. Spending five years in the band, Bayley interjected a darker style to Iron Maiden as heard on their 1995 album, The X Factor, and 1998’s Virtual XI. Since moving on to a solo career, his latest, Infinite Entanglement, could be his best to date. That in mind, being a charismatic storyteller, Bayley told the crowd, “I am a no one from a dirt poor family. I had a dream, and if anyone tells you to forget your dreams, you tell them to fuck off!”

Continuing to talk more about his life’s journey, he then got to talking about his time with Iron Maiden, leading into his performance of two classics, 1982’s ”Run To The Hills” and 1983’s ”The Trooper.” Amidst it all, Owens kept the fans’ attention while he ran on the stage from side to side, slapping hands and encouraging them to sing along with him. Once the music stopped, Bayley thanked everyone and talked about how Tate had called him to do this tour and how happy he is to be out doing this with him and Owens.

Sincere and honest in his gratitude for the fans’ support, he then introduced Owens as he came out on stage. Owens, affectionately known by fans as the nickname “Ripper” from the Judas Priest song, of the same name, lived the dream fronting the band from 1996 to 2003 in Rob Halford’s absence. Recording two studio albums as well as two live albums during his time with them. In addition, he also spent time with Iced Earth and currently performs with Beyond Fear, Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force, and super band Charred Walls of the Damned, who recently released Creatures Watching Over the Dead.

A humble man, with a mischievous smile, Owens playfully said, “Blaze Bayley has no problem talking.” He then continued by asking, “Are you alright?” and the fans screamed and yelled, he then asked several times, “What’s my name?” and each time the roar of the crowd shouted, “Ripper!” Revving everyone up, he blasted into Judas Priest’s 1976 cut, ”The Ripper.” Before the next song, Owens asked the fans, “Do you want to hear something even heavier?” and with a deafening cheer he performed Beyond Fear’s “Scream Machine,” which he ended with a perfectly pitched primal scream. Conversing more with the audience, Owens said, “What a good time we are having! This is what music is about, having fun! It’s not always fun in this business, but this is fun! This was all Geoff’s idea and we are so glad to be here with him.”

With that being said, Tate return to the stage with a huge smile as Owens bowed out. Tate, clearly the mastermind behind the Trinity Tour, is famously known as the original voice of Queensrÿche. Parting ways with the band back in 2012, after a messy litigation, Tate has not skipped a beat, settling in nicely with his new band, Operation: Mindcrime. Making their own history, their second album in a trilogy, Resurrection, is out now. An exciting concept record, Tate was in high spirits before speaking to the crowd introducing his next song as one about his hometown of Seattle, Washington, that song being Queensrÿche’s ”Jet City Woman” before ”The Needle Lies.” Turning to the present, Tate soon spoke to the audience about his band, Operation: Mindcrime, the release of the second album in the trilogy, and played them a song from 2015’s The Key, ”The Stranger.”

Switching gears again, Bayley came running back out on stage to talk more Iron Maiden saying, “I had an idea for a song, they liked my idea, we put it on an album and it became a Top 10 single, something I am immensely proud of!” Certainly a wonderful feat, before they played the Iron Maiden song, Bayley broke out his cell phone and announced he wanted to video the crowd for his Facebook page. A fun moment that was met with cheering and hollering, the song to follow was in fact The X Factor favorite “Man On The Edge.” Keeping with the Iron Maiden theme, Bayley gifted the crowd “Fear Of The Dark” before ”The Number Of The Beast” to more applause.

With another changing of the guard, Owens returned to perform ”Burn In Hell” off Judas Priest’s 1997 album Jugulator. Thereafter, they did a song from Iced Earth’s ”When The Eagle Cries” before Owens rounded out his set with Judas Priest classic “Breaking The Law.” With Owens still on the stage, the band began the next song, but before he could start to sing, Bayley came blasting out shouting, “This is my song, you’re not doing it!” They playfully argued for a bit about who really is the “Wrathchild,” and coming to a compromise, the both sang the 1981 Iron Maiden favorite together. Hilarious, it added to the fun mood before they gave the spotlight to Tate one last time to sing a Queensrÿche signature, “Eyes Of A Stranger.”

With a wave to the fans, Tate and the band left the stage; but not for long. Soon they returned with Tate, Bayley, and Owens all together. Tate introduced the band members as Owens walked over to Gray and insisted, with a smile, that he give him his guitar. Once Owens had Gray’s guitar strapped on, they were ready to play the last song of the night, fittingly Judas Priest sing-along, “Living After Midnight.” With the entire room singing along to every word, they swayed to the music in the finale.

The joining of these three powerful vocalists makes for a show like no other. Each so unique in their own styles, yet they blended together seamlessly. Backed by a band of seasoned musicians, the show was full of good times and good memories. Even though this tour is a short one, fans should hold out hope for a Trinity Tour part 2 in the future.

Diane Woodcheke

dwoodcheke@gmail.com

Diane has had her eye on a camera viewfinder since she was very young. She specializes in Fine Art, Event, and Concert Photography. She is also a writer of concert and album reviews, as well as contributing various online publications such as CrypticRock.

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